Huntsville coach Mark Fleetwood led his sixth Panthers squad to the Class 7A state playoffs last season, falling to eventual state champion Thompson in the opening round to finish the season at 6-5.

Fleetwood said he has his sights on more headed into Season No. 7 at Huntsville.

“We made it to the first round last year and lost to Thompson, but I think the idea is that we want to go past that,” Fleetwood said. “We don’t want to just make the playoffs we want to win the region and that’s our goal. You know, I think it’s been quite a while since that’s been done here.”

The Crimson Panthers were 4-3 in Region 4 a year ago, behind Austin and Florence. Huntsville’s last region championship came in 2008 under head coach Kevin Wieseman who guided the Panthers to the semifinals where they fell to eventual state runner-up Hoover.

Huntsville returns seven starters on offense, led by senior quarterback Jackson McClung, receiver Huck Hensley and running back Carlin Long. McClung, a 6-foot-1, 160-pounder passed for 1,676 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior. The 5-10, 170-pound Hensley caught 42 passes and scored seven TDs. Long – 6-0, 190 – ran for 1,425 yards and scored 15 touchdowns.

Senior Amaree Jabbar finished 2022 with 49 catches and four TDs.

The Panthers averaged 28 points a game last season, scoring more than 40 per win, but scored just 12.8 in their five losses.

Huntsville returns seven starters on defense, including 6-3, 255-pound senior defensive end Tyric Henton and 5-9, 215-pound senior linebacker Ethan Johnson. Senior linebacker Christian Gilgious (6-2, 205) will also be counted on to shore up the Huntsville defense. The Panthers surrendered 22.5 points a game in 2022 – 15.2 in their six wins.

Senior Sims Bowen, who Fleetwood said has a field-goal range of 50 yards, will handle the kicking duties.

Huntsville will kick off its season on Sept. 1 with a home game at Oxford.